C25K program????? (Read 1054 times)

What is this and where do you find it. I just joined today and I can't find this program.

The Couch to 5K Running Plan is the best new runner training program I know of. It is designed to take a new runner from zero activity, literally a couch potato, to running a 5k race. It provides the structure to keep the new runner from doing too much too soon and the goal to maintain interest. If you decide to do it, the biggest mistake new runners make is to run at too fast a pace. Keep your pace down to the point where it is difficult but not impossible to carry on an intelligible conversation while you run. That will seem extremely slow at first but you'll be surprised how quickly you will progress. Have fun, Tom

The C25K program is on coolrunning.com and the support forums there are probably the most active. Both here and coolrunning though have great support. Mike

As a current participant in the C25K and a first time runner I can say without a doubt the program is excellent. It is well structured, and paced accordingly to let you get to where you want to be ina few short weeks. I started over 7 weeks ago not able to run the week one 1 minute intervals. It was embarrassing. Yesterday on my week 7 day 1 run I ran for 25 minutes straight and covered 4.5 km! If you asked me if it was possible 2 months ago that I would be able to run like that I would have said no. It isn't anything much compared to the accomplished runners here, but for a sedentary big guy like me (6'5", 260) it feels pretty amazing.

I don't know how fit, young, couch-y you are, but I followed the C25K program and I found that (starting from a very unfit place) I needed a lot longer than the specified number of weeks. In hindsight, I realize I just needed to repeat weeks here and there and that's fine, but at the time, I thought I was doing something wrong, or that I just wasn't cut out for running.

This is an important distinction w/this program. If you're just starting it realize that it is a GENERAL schedule that can be followed. It should not be rigidly followed if it seems too difficult. A better way of looking at each week prescribed is as a goal to be reached. If you can complete all of the week's runs fairly comfortably, then you're ready to move on to the next week. If you struggle mightily, or are unable to complete the workouts, then you should repeat that week until you're able to complete it. Taking this approach means that it may take you longer than the 9 weeks, but it will also help you progress at the proper rate. My wife is using this program and is about 2/3 of the way through it. She's repeating weeks when she needs to, and at first she was getting down on herself for it b/c she felt like she "wasn't good enough to be a runner" just because she couldn't stay on the schedule. It took me a bit to talk her down from that ledge, but she soon understood that it is not meant to be LAW. It's a guide to help people. An approach to beginning running, as it were. The schedule isn't the point nearly as much as the concept it represents. Intersperse walking and running, with a gradual increase in running time until you're able to remove the walking altogether. Good luck, and happy running! Q

Excellent post, Q! I was like your wife - I had to repeat several of the weeks, multiple times. It took me about 6 months to make it to 5k distance! But once I reached that point, it was easy to go farther and farther, and now I'm up to 9 miles. Two years ago, I NEVER would have thought I could do that. Good luck, Giant! Let us know how it's going for you.

My wife is using this program and is about 2/3 of the way through it. She's repeating weeks when she needs to, and at first she was getting down on herself for it b/c she felt like she "wasn't good enough to be a runner" just because she couldn't stay on the schedule. It took me a bit to talk her down from that ledge, but she soon understood that it is not meant to be LAW.

Great stuff Q, nicely done.